Four Reasons Why the Bears Could Win Super Bowl 61

A pivotal 2026 season awaits the Chicago Bears. After shocking the NFL world with an NFC North championship and a miraculous Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers, the Bears face heightened expectations for the first time since at least 2019. They've been picked as a legit Super Bowl contender, more than once in fact, and even head coach Ben Johnson has turned up the heat by proudly proclaiming his goal to break the 2013 Broncos' NFL scoring record.

Yesterday, I discussed the reasons why the Bears could be in for a disaster season, one in which nothing goes according to plan. Should things continue going according to plan, however, a Super Bowl title is very much on the table. Here's why.

1. An open NFC field

Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams calls the snap count against the Los Angeles Rams. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This first reason has nothing to do with the Bears themselves, but it still matters. Whereas in the AFC you have at least three top contenders, and perhaps as many as five, the only real Goliath in the NFC is the L.A. Rams. Seattle may be the defending champs, but they lost Kenneth Walker III in free agency while Klint Kubiak took the head coaching job in Las Vegas, leaving Seattle with a first-time playcaller as their new offensive coordinator.

Other than that, the NFC is wide open. Several teams can claim a viable path to the conference championship game, and it will be there that they, most likely, will have to somehow overcome the Rams. It's a tall task, but the experts at Sporting News did indeed predict the Bears to get past the Rams before falling short in the Super Bowl.

2. Better health on defense

Chicago Bears CB Jaylon Johnson runs onto the field during player introductions. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

NFL fans and analysts alike love to talk about the Bears' unsustainable rate of takeaways in 2025 as a reason for them to regress in 2026, but they never mention the fact that Chicago suffered horrendous injury luck on defense all last year. In the secondary alone, Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon missed a combined 24 games while Terrell Smith, who'd been expected to start as the CB2, missed the entire season.

Both starting linebackers, Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards, went on IR at some point in the season, while Dayo Odeyingbo and Shemar Turner both suffered season-ending injuries halfway through the year.

With so many injuries, it was impossible for the Bears' defense to become a cohesive unit until late in the season, and to their credit, they stepped up their game big time in the playoffs. Though they didn't record a single takeaway in either playoff game, the defense held the Packers to six second-half points and held the Rams to just 17 points in regulation.

This year, the Bears' defense appears to be in much better health. Jaylon Johnson is back and more motivated than ever before, while the latest recovery timeline for Kyler Gordon could have him back on the field by Week 5. If the starters can stay healthy, or at least healthier than last year, this unit should have an easier time getting off the field and giving the offense more chances to score.

3. Dennis Allen getting back to the basics

Even though the Bears didn't make any big additions to their defensive line (barring a potential trade for an edge rusher), they seem to have quite a bit of confidence in this unit taking a step forward in 2026. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said back in May that the secret to fixing the Bears' pass rush is as simple as getting back to the basics of football.

"We focused so much on installing all the scheme last year because it was brand new," Allen told the media at rookie minicamp. "We focused so much on that that we lost sight of some of the fundamentals and techniques that it takes to function... I don’t think we were as fundamentally sound defensively as we need to be."

If Allen is right in his assessment of what went wrong last year, and the Bears' pass rush actually gets after quarterbacks in 2026, this defense will be far better than what anyone expects it to be. An above-average defense, combined with a juggernaut offense, should be more than enough to carry the Bears to a Super Bowl berth.

4. Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters for the Bears is whether head coach Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams are who they were billed to be. For Johnson, that's a genius offensive mind who constantly innovates new ways to dominate defenses. As for Williams, ahead of the 2024 NFL draft, one former GM said that he'd take Williams even over Peyton Manning in a draft. I think that alone tells you the kind of player Williams was expected to become in the NFL.

Based on their growth last year, especially in the second-half of the season, I see no reason to expect either one to suddenly stall or regress in their development. If anything, both Johnson and Williams should take the leap into unquestioned superstardom. If they do that, there's not a team in the NFL that they can't beat, and that's exactly how you get to, and win, the Super Bowl.

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